L.V. Steelhawks pro indoor football team expect a 'wild one' against Richmond

Chris Thompson and his wife, LeeAnn, are expecting a child sometime in early June.

So Thompson, the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks and the Professional Indoor Football League franchise's assistant general manager, will be a busy guy this summer since this will be the couple's third child.

But he'd like to make it even busier by having his team make the PIFL playoffs.

The Steelhawks, 6-2 overall and 5-2 in the PIFL, have three games left and can move a big step closer to a playoff berth by beating the Richmond Raiders (5-4) at 7 tonight at the PPL Center.

Lehigh Valley is 4-0 at its new home in downtown Allentown and would like to add an additional playoff date — or two — to its home schedule.

The Steelhawks are coming off a bye week, but haven't seemed to lose any of the momentum generated by a 50-31 win over the Alabama Hammers on May 17.

"We had an outstanding week of practice," Thompson said. "The enthusiasm has been awesome. The guys all seemed very excited to come back and get ready to get back at it. It got to the point on Tuesday night where they were upset when I stopped practice. They wanted to keep going. That doesn't happen very often."

Thompson said the time off was beneficial in giving players a chance to get healthy.

And health will be a big issue against Richmond, which has become one of the Steelhawks' top rivals in the PIFL.

"It's going to be a wild one; it always is with Richmond," Thompson said. "We've had some great previous games with them and they're hot right now with a three-game win streak. They're playing well and with a lot of confidence. So we're expecting a war."

Richmond features the top offense in the PIFL, averaging 54.4 points per game. However, the Steelhawks have the No. 1 defense, allowing just 42.4 points per contest.

More than that, the Steelhawks have scored seven touchdowns on interceptions and have added four scores on fumble returns. Their turnover margin is an astounding plus-25.

The aggressive, ballhawking defense along with the dual-threat provided at quarterback by Shane McSweeny (328 yards rushing and 1,318 yards passing) has been a winning formula for the fifth-year franchise.

Another ingredient has been the spirited crowds at the PPL Center and Thompson expects one of the best of the year for this one, which is being billed as the indoor version of "Friday Night Lights."

"Our ticket pre sale is up over last game," he said. "We've got some great things going on with a performance by the Pocono Mountain East High School marching band and it's a Scout Night and the first 1,500 fans will get Steelhawks hats courtesy of Service Electric."

No matter what happens, the Steelhawks won't be able to rest on Saturday as many players and coaches will be taking part in the first Gridiron High School Football Combine from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the St. Luke's Fitness and Performance Center at 501 Cetronia Road in Allentown.

That's open to kids entering grades 9-12 and also to players who are going to be freshmen in college in 2015. It costs $60.

It's intended to measure athletic skills and abilities and provide numbers that can be sent to recruiters and college coaches.

"The St. Luke's people will be running the combine part of it and then in the afternoon we're going to have fundamental stations that are position-specific," Thompson said. "We'll also have a recruiting seminar and a Q-and-A where kids and their parents can talk to our players and coaches and we can share our experiences.

"We're expecting around 50 or more kids and we're looking forward to it."

The Steelhawks will close out the home portion of the regular-season schedule against the Trenton Freedom on June 6.